Galen Rupp became the first American man in 15 years to win the Chicago Marathon while Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba, a three-time Olympic champion, captured the women's crown.

It crowned a superb season for the 32-year-old after she followed second place at the London Marathon in 2:17:56 - the fifth fastest time ever - with a 10,000m silver medal at the World Championships.

Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba pushed toward a course-record pace nearly from the start to win the women's side of the Marathon in 2:18:31. Joan Benoit Samuelson held the previous fastest American woman in Chicago (2:21:21) from October 20, 1985 until Sunday.

Through 5K in the men's race, there were 26 runners in a lead pack, headed by American Aaron Braun, with all the favourites content on the slow pace, which continued through 10K, projected for a 2:12:30 finish.

But ultimately she came up slightly short of the course record.

Kenya's defending champion Florence Kiplagat pulled out soon after halfway after losing contact with the leaders.

Fourth soldier killed in Niger identified
Johnson, a native of Miami Gardens, Florida, enlisted in the Army in January 2014 as a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic (91B). There, they work side-by-side with partner nations to promote regional stability by building their military capacity.